In brief
Galaxy Research tracked six Bitcoin wallets dormant since 2011, 2012, and 2014 moving coins over a 10-day stretch this month, worth a combined $40.15 million.
Two of the six carry "Salomon Client Dusted" tags tied to Noah Doe, the pseudonymous plaintiff suing to claim 39,069 dormant Bitcoin addresses in New York court.
The oldest coins in the batch were bought for pocket change in mid-2011 and are up more than 800,000% on the initial purchase.
Somewhere out there, six people may have just remembered they own Bitcoin, or cracked open an old hard drive, or got their prayers heard and recovered an old key.It isn’t clear what the case may be, but Galaxy Research has been keeping count: Six Bitcoin wallets dormant since 2011, 2012, and 2014 moved a combined 553.59 BTC between Aug. 16 and Aug. 26, worth a combined $40.15 million.Myriad: Bitcoin next price move? Click to make your prediction.It’s a rare thing for 2011 through 2014-era holders to keep control of their original coins, which is why on-chain sleuths jump on every one that stirsThe first wallet, which woke up on Aug. 16, held just 8.54 BTC that had sat completely still since June 13, 2011—15.1 years ago—before moving in block 962,770 at 18:42 UTC. The coins cost about $14 apiece to acquire back then, and were worth $538,000 when they finally moved—a 461,981% gain.There is no sender attribution on the wallet, so whoever it is kept their keys quiet.Two days later brought the biggest single potential payday of the batch. Galaxy reported 212 BTC moving out of a wallet dormant since Aug. 10, 2012—14.0 years. Those coins are now worth $13.66 million, a potential 557,640% return on a roughly $12 basis if sold.This wallet came with a label attached: "Noah Doe #1396 · Salomon Client Dusted," linking it to the New York lawsuit that’s trying to claim tens of thousands of old Bitcoin addresses as abandoned property.Just hours later, another 2011 wallet joined the party. Galaxy flagged 10.74 BTC, today worth $692,000, leaving a wallet dormant since June 17, 2011. This one again had no label, so the sender and recipient remain unknown for now.After a four-day pause, two moves from ancient Bitcoin wallets came within about two hours of each other on Aug. 22. Galaxy tracked 150 BTC leaving a wallet dormant since Dec. 26, 2014 worth $11.75 million and tagged "Noah Doe #1680" for a potential 23,701% gain.Then, just after 3 a.m. UTC, the week’s fifth wallet awoke. Galaxy's tracking showed 132.31 BTC worth $10.37 million moving out of three separate 2011 addresses in block 963,519. Galaxy broke the gains out address by address: The wallet beginning in “1EG5DvjR” stands to pocket $4.45 million (+629,068%), while “1928FWqd” moved $404,000 (+625,826%), and “1EBzWeno” moved $5.51 million—the steepest potential gain of the three at +807,639%, on a basis of roughly $10 a coin.
